The Spy
by snapesgirl21
Summary: Serverus Snape receives more than one surprise when he bumps into his former lover, sixteen years after she left him. One-shot, AU after OOTP. Result of a Muffliato challenge to pair Snape with a real person or a non-HP character.


Severus and Dumbeldore sat waiting in the reception area of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, attempting to have a conversation over the cacophony that arose around them. They were there to visit Anthony Adler, a seventh-year Slytherin who had been on the receiving end of a yet unknown hex that had caused him to be in constant pain. Severus and Madam Pompfrey had attempted various spells and potions to help alleviate his pain, but nothing had touched the boy's nerves, which he had described as being 'on fire', so he had been transported to St. Mungo's.

'This is always such an interesting place,' Dumbledore said, looking around at the people gathered in the small seating area. A family with a young boy, who had green smoke billowing out of his ears were seated along the opposite wall, next to a large, unhappy-looking woman who had developed purple spots on her face and hands, and an elderly couple that sat at the back of the room, looking impatient. Adler was undergoing a procedure at the moment that the Healers insisted wouldn't take long, so Severus and Dumbledore had decided to wait it out.

'I'm sure the novelty wears off if you have to work here every day,' Severus responded as the smoking-eared boy began vomiting all over his mother.

'Perhaps,' Dumbledore said, wrinkling his nose slightly as the boy continued to vomit faster than his mother could Vanish it.

Out of his peripheral vision, Severus noticed two women walk in and sit down in chairs along the same wall. The older woman looked as though she were supposed to be younger than her gaunt, lifeless body portrayed. Her auburn hair was lank and unstyled and her clothes hung on her body as though she had recently lost a significant amount of weight, but hadn't altered her clothing. The younger woman had near-black hair that was pulled back from her face, and wore jeans and a fitted black blouse with sleeves that reached her elbows.

'Stay here, Mum. I need to go up to the desk for a minute,' the younger woman had told her companion, who gave no sign that she had heard her daughter, but continued to stare blankly at the opposite wall.

Severus closed his eyes and leaned back, wishing the Healers would hurry up with Adler so they could finish their visit and leave. It was the start of the summer holidays and Severus wanted nothing more than to enjoy every second of peace and quiet that the house on Spinners End would offer him for the next few weeks. He had intentions of reading some of the latest Potions research, along with doing some experimentations of his own and catching up on sleep. Since the fall of the Dark Lord several months prior, Severus had found his sleeping habits were nearing normalcy with each passing month.

'GET THEM OFF ME!'

Severus had pulled out his wand and leapt to his feet instantly, thinking someone was attacking the people in the reception area. Instead, he realized that the woman who had just been seated near him was suddenly coherent and attempting to brush something non-existent off of her arms. She was panicked as she picked as her clothes, and continued to dig at her arms, her fingernails leaving bright red marks.

'Oh, Merlin, get them off me! Get them off me! They want to kill me!'

What had astounded Severus wasn't only the fact that the woman was clearly mental, but that he recognized her voice, and knew instantly who she was: Irina Derevko.

Severus had met Irina when he was seventeen and a new recruit to the Death Eaters, working to prove himself before taking his Dark Mark. Irina had been working as a spy for the Muggle KGB out of the Soviet Union, tasked with the goal of marrying an operative of the Muggle CIA in America and learning the American's secrets. She had completed her task and fled the country. What she had failed to do, however, was return to the U.S.S.R.; deciding instead to abandon the Muggle world and return to the magical one, where the Dark Lord had been enamoured with her experience and recruited her to train some of his Death Eaters. The attraction had been instantaneous, and Severus and Irina had maintained an affair for two years, which ended abruptly one day when Severus received a note from Irina.

'_I am truly sorry, but I can't do this anymore.'_

Frantic, Severus had immediately gone to Irina's flat, finding it as bare as though she had never lived there. That had been sixteen years ago, and he'd never been able to find Irina, despite his initial searches. The Dark Lord had been furious as her abandonment, vowing to kill her once he found her. Severus never heard more of Irina, assuming that she had been killed by the Dark Lord at some point. But here she was, in the flesh, looking as though she had spent the last sixteen years at Azkaban. Her once lively eyes were sunken and panicked. Her soft, flawless skin now had patches of dryness and distinctly coloured, neither pale nor jaundiced, but somewhere in between. Severus hadn't realized he was holding his breath until a Healer approached Irina, sitting next to her and speaking in gentle tones.

'It's ok, Ms. Derevko. We're going to help you out,' the Healer said, producing a vial of blue potion from her pocket, which Severus recognized as a Calming Draught.

Irina looked at the vial the woman was now offering her, a look of incredulity crossing her face.

'Do you think I'm stupid enough to take that? It's most likely poison. I knew you all were trying to kill me!'

As Irina stood, the younger woman that had accompanied her rushed over, grabbing Irina's arms and she lunged for the Healer, who jumped back quickly.

'Mum! Calm down, no one is trying to kill you,' she said in a posh London accent, her tone smooth but firm, indicating that this was not the first time she was experiencing this.

Looking closer, Severus noted the young woman was most likely in her late teens, twenty at most, though it was hard to tell. He rifled through his memories of Irina, trying to remember if she had ever mentioned a daughter to him, recalling that she told him she'd given birth to a daughter when she had been married to the American Muggle, but that girl had been six or seven when Severus met Irina, and she hadn't displayed any magical powers, as Irina had sadly informed him.

The young woman thanked the Healer and sat down next to Irina, who had been content with her explanation and took her seat once more.

'Where are we? I don't recognize this place,' Irina said, looking around the room.

'We're at-, 'the girl began, but was cut off when Irina exclaimed 'SEVERUS!'

Irina had caught sight of him standing several feet away and rushed over, embracing him as though he were a long-lost old friend. Stunned, Severus grabbed Irina and pulled her away from him, confused about what was happening.

"Irina, what's wrong with you?' he demanded as the young woman reached them, sighing deeply.

'I'm sorry, sir,' she began, putting an arm around her mother's waist. 'She gets confused about who people are sometimes.'

'But, I'm not confused!' Irina cried, grabbing hold of Severus frock coat. 'It's him. It's Severus Snape.'

The girl shook her head sadly. 'No, Mum. He's dead, remember? You told me-'

Severus interrupted her, wanting to know more about why this girl had thought him dead. 'She isn't mistaken. I am Severus Snape, very much alive.'

The girl's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, her jaw dropping as she took in what she had just heard. Looking around the room as though expecting some other explanation to appear, the girl shook her slightly in disbelief.

'You know my mother then?' she managed to ask in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Severus wasn't normally one to indulge others in details of his love-life, but felt that this was a time to make an exception.

'Yes. Irina and I were involved for a couple of years,' he said, as Irina tried throw herself into his arms once more. 'Though she seems to have forgotten that she left me sixteen years ago.'

The younger woman rubbed her hands over her eyes, circling her face and pulling them away once they met at her chin. She looked utterly nonplussed.

'I don't know how to begin to explain this,' she finally said, her black eyes meeting Severus's. 'And my mother is clearly not in a position to do so herself.'

Just then, another Healer appeared, indicating her approach with a slight cough.

'Miss Snape? We're ready to do your mother's intake. We'll take her from here up to the Janus Thickey Ward, but we will need you to complete the paperwork.'

The world around Severus suddenly went quiet; the only sound being the pounding of his own blood in his ears. All he could was stare at this girl, whose panicked expression told him what she had been unable to explain. She was his daughter.

But no, this wasn't possible. The logical part of Severus's brain came back to him, pushing the shock and horror aside. This girl looked too old to possibly be his child.

Nodding to the Healer, the girl absentmindedly guided Irina over to the woman, who placed an arm around her and began talking to her about where she was going, as Irina looked over her shoulder.

'Claudia, aren't you coming? We are going to see my new flat,' she said, her voice full of excitement.

Closing her eyes, Claudia let out a sigh before speaking. 'I'll be right behind you. You two go on ahead.'

Once Irina was out of ear-shot, Severus spoke. 'How old are you?'

He held his breath as her waited for her answer, feeling as though time had slowed down, making the second between his asking the question and her providing the answer seem like several minutes.

'I turned sixteen last week,' she whispered, looking around to make sure she wasn't overheard. 'But the Healers can't know that. I look older than I am, and I'm using it to my advantage to help out my mum. She's-she's not well, clearly.'

The desperation in her voice and pleading in her eyes told Severus that this had been a last-resort, to bring her mother to the long-term ward at the hospital.

'What's wrong with her? Was she injured or been hit by a curse?'

Claudia shook her, pursing her lips before speaking. 'No one really knows for sure. We've seen a number of Healers and Muggle doctors. They believe it is some form of dementia, though they told me that diagnosing these things for certain often can't be done until after someone dies. She started exhibiting symptoms about five years ago, right after I came home from my first year of school. Her mood changes rapidly from elated to sad to nearly catatonic. She forgets to eat, what her name is, who I am, and that she's a witch. I had to take her wand away from her three years ago. Since then, she's been living with my gran in London. Gran died about a month ago in her sleep, but no one knew until I arrived home from school nearly two weeks ago and found her. Mum hadn't remembered to eat very often and probably hadn't bathed since Gran died. She told me she just thought Gran was sleeping and didn't want to wake her, though how the smell hadn't gotten to her is beyond me.'

Claudia expression displayed some of the horror she was feeling as she recalled the events. Severus cringed inwardly, understanding how that felt. He had found his own mother dead, several weeks into the decomposition process when he had arrived home at the of his sixth year at Hogwarts

Doing some mental math, Severus calculated that the girl was quite possibly his daughter. Irina had left him at the end of January, sixteen years prior, meaning she would have been about three months pregnant when she fled. Severus reserved some doubts, however. He had suspected Irina hadn't been sleeping only with him as she trained several of the Dark Lord's followers on how to be expert spies. It was possible that she was pregnant by someone else and had simply assumed Severus was the father.

'Will you be here much longer?'

Claudia question brought Severus back to reality, which included a curious Albus Dumbledore approaching him.

'Severus, the Healer informed me that we can go visit Mr. Adler now,' he said, his gaze flicking back and forth between Severus and Claudia. No doubt Dumbledore had heard the Healer talking to Claudia.

'You go ahead, Dumbledore,' Severus said, his eyes not leaving Claudia. 'I'll catch up to you. I need to go to the Janus Thickey Ward first.'

Three hours later found Severus in his laboratory at Hogwarts, rifling through a large book. There was a potion called 'Abbas Cruor', which would determine if a man was the father of a child. The potion, while complex, was able to be completed fairly quickly, likely so that anyone needing the results could have them before being killed by other potentials. Claudia stood to the side of the room, watching as Severus gathered the needed supplies and began chopping various herbs.

'Do you need help? I'm in the top of my class in Potions,' Claudia offered tentatively.

Severus shook his head. 'This potion is extremely complex, and can easily be ruined. It won't take me long. Don't interrupt me.'

Thirty minutes later, Severus felt exhausted from the extensive amount of spells he had been muttering under his breath while adding each ingredient and stirring for a set number of minutes. The potion finally became a murky green as the text had said it would when the time came to add the drops of blood.

Picking up a nearby knife, Severus cut his palm, a red line of blood following in the knife's wake. Holding his left hand over the cauldron, he spoke for the first time since beginning the potion.

'You need to come over here. You will have to add your own blood to the cauldron in a minute.'

Claudia walked across the room silently and picked up a second knife from the table, cutting a line across her palm, flinching slightly as the blood appeared.

Once several drops of his blood had made it into the cauldron, Severus quickly began stirring the liquid in a clockwise direction, counting to five before reversing his motion, stirring twice in the anti-clockwise direction, the potion turning a dark blue, indicating the addition of the blood of the potential father.

'Now, put your palm over the cauldron and add a few drops of your own blood,' Severus instructed as he muttered a quick Healing spell over his palm, the blood disappearing and the skin mending together in an instant.

Claudia did as she was told, flexing her hand in order to draw more blood. Once completed, Severus began stirring in the same manner as before, with the result of a pink potion, indicating that the child being tested was a girl.

'When will we know?' Claudia asked as he repeated the Healing spell over her palm.

'It takes sixty seconds to simmer before it will produce the results. If the potion turns white, I am your father; if it turns black, your mother is a liar.'

They stood in silence, watching the potion for any signs of change. Severus found his mind wandering back to the first night he and Irina had spent together at her flat. It had been the first night of Christmas holidays during Severus's seventh year at Hogwarts. She had been instructing him on the various interrogation techniques that she had used in the Muggle world of espionage that were also applicable to the wizarding world. When she had reached the subject of sex, Severus had flushed. Irina had noticed the red tinge to his cheeks and asked how much experience he had, to which Severus had embarrassingly replied that he had none. Irina had appraised him for a moment before walking behind his chair and placing her hands on his shoulders. Bending down, she had whispered in his ear about how many people would sell their own mother, betray their country or murder their best friend if the sex had been good enough. Her deep, sultry voice had elicited a rush of arousal through his body as her hands slowly brushed down his arms. Noticing his now-obvious erection, Irina had silently taken him by the hand and pulled him into her bedroom, stating that she would be teaching him the exact science and subtle art of lovemaking. She had informed him, as she kissed his trembling lips and moved on to his thin neck, that he could bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses of any woman with his smooth voice, teasing caress and carefully chosen words of seduction, bringing her to his mercy and willing to do his bidding. Severus had been shaking as his naked body laid on top of Irina's, one mouth at her left breast while his hand had tweaked the nipple of right, as she talked him through the process. A single moan from her had been enough to make Severus ejaculate onto her stomach. Horrified, he had made to push away, too embarrassed to face her, but Irina had stopped him, stating that she had ten more years of life experience than he and that such things didn't bother her anymore. He had needed little convincing to have another go, which had resulted in her crying out in Russian a few minutes later as her orgasm peaked, her body pulsing around Severus has he joined her.

Claudia's sharp intake of breath pulled Severus out of his reverie and back into the moment. He looked down into the cauldron, whose contents had changed from a shimmering pink to a brilliant white.


End file.
